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Launches new center to advise on competitive supply chains Metal Tech News - July 6, 2022
In addition to seeking secure supplies of imported critical minerals, the UK is supporting companies developing domestic sources, such as lithium from geothermal brine near the historic copper and tin mines in England's Cornwall region. Click on the photo to find out more.
To help ensure it has reliable and plentiful supplies of the minerals and metals essential to the high-tech and green energy future, the United Kingdom has announced the launch of its Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre in Nottingham, England.
Critical minerals are essential for the manufacturing of smartphones, electric vehicles, wind turbines, fighter jets, and an enormous array of other products essential to the UK's economy and national security. With the global transition to low-carbon energy and transportation expected to push the demand for some critical minerals up by nearly 500% by 2050, the UK says taking steps to secure a resilient and sustainable supply chain is essential.
Led by the British Geological Survey, with support from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the critical minerals center will ensure the UK has reliable supply chains for the increasingly competitive critical minerals by providing policymakers with up-to-date data and analysis on supply, demand, and market dynamics.
"The UK has announced world-leading targets to decarbonise the economy, which include plans to build an electric vehicle supply chain and transform the energy system using offshore wind and clean hydrogen. Building these technologies and the associated infrastructure will require substantial quantities of critical minerals," said UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre Director Paul Lusty. "The UK's current critical mineral needs are met almost entirely from overseas, through complex and dynamic international supply chains that often have poor end-to-end visibility. The centre will help the government and industry understand future UK critical minerals demand, and potential chain supply vulnerabilities."
This includes providing policymakers with advice on geopolitical, ethical, environmental, and other issues associated with critical mineral sources.
Industry Minister Lee Rowley announced the official launch of the center during a July 4 visit to the British Geological Survey's headquarters in Nottinghamshire.
"Critical minerals are so important to every aspect of our daily lives, whether it's the phones we use, the cars we drive, or the batteries in our laptops," he said.
While its launch was officially announced this week, the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre has been working behind the scenes and recently published a study that investigates UK's electric vehicle battery supply chain.
The report finds that a significant ramping-up of primary production of battery minerals is required to meet projected UK and global demand in 2030 and beyond. While the British Geological Survey does not see battery material supply issues over the longer-term, long lead times for mining projects and other issues could create shortages in the near term.
For a country heavily dependent on imports for the cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, and nickel that go into EV batteries, this could be problematic.
"A major factor that the UK needs to consider when assessing the risks associated with its import dependence are the potential trade barriers that could disrupt existing global supply chains," according to the key findings of the 72-page UK battery supply chain report.
Based on this work and "criticality assessments" provided by the critical minerals center, including an assessment published by the British Geological Survey earlier this year, the government will publish a Critical Minerals Strategy later in 2022 that lays out the UK's approach to bolstering the resilience of its critical mineral supply chains.
"As the world shifts towards new green technologies, supply chains will become more competitive," said Rowley. "That's why we're harnessing the British Geological Survey's vast experience in geoscience, to ensure better access to these crucial resources, and support the delivery of our forthcoming Critical Minerals Strategy."
Up to 3.6 million pounds (US$4.3 million) is available for the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre over three years.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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